Noida: After being dug up and left in disrepair for nearly five years, the Dadri-Surajpur-Chhalera (DSC) Road is set to be repaired following a recent rap from air quality regulators and mounting public pressure.The 5.5-km stretch running beneath the newly built Bhangel Elevated Road has been riddled with potholes, loose construction debris and dust patches since work on the six-lane flyover began in 2020. Despite the elevated corridor opening to traffic in Nov last year, the road below hardly saw any repairs, forcing commuters onto narrow internal sector roads.Noida Authority CEO Krishna Karunesh said repair work would now be taken up and completed by June. The project, estimated to cost around Rs 35 crore, will include relaying the road surface, rebuilding the central verge and fixing drainage. The Uttar Pradesh State Bridge Corporation Ltd, which built the elevated road but had earlier sought to be relieved of restoring the stretch below it, is to complete the work on a tight deadline.The DSC Road that runs through one of Noida’s oldest markets is currently riddled with large craters, uneven patches, encroachments and piles of debris that have made the road unsafe, particularly during peak hours. “It was dug up for years and never repaired,” said Brig CK Pathak (retd), a resident of Sector 49. “People diverted to internal sector roads, creating chaos. The problems have been immense.”Last month, the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) inspected several roads in Noida and flagged this stretch of the DSC Road among those with high visible dust pollution. The commission directed the authority to take immediate remedial measures, adding urgency to the long-delayed repairs.Ironically, the elevated road above — built at a cost of Rs 608 crore — was designed to ease congestion for commuters travelling from sectors 40, 41, 43, 47, 48, 49, 82, 88, 101 and 106 towards the Noida Special Economic Zone and Surajpur. It also serves residents of nearby villages such as Sadarpur, Chhalera, Aghapur, Barolla and Salarpur. But the lack of entry and exit loops at several points has meant that many motorists continue to rely on the damaged parallel road.On Friday, local residents met the Noida CEO, demanding entry and exit loops at sectors 47y and 107. Officials said the loops would be developed.
